Unit Options and s BSc Psychology, Counselling and Therapies (Full-Time) All units are core Year 1 Foundations to Psychology Introduction to Psychological Research and Data Analysis Psychology in Everyday Life Introduction to Counselling Unit Details Foundations to Psychology This unit introduces four of the core areas of Psychology as distinguished by the British Psychological Society. These are Cognitive Psychology, Biological Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Individual Differences. The aim is for students to gain a breadth of understanding of the theoretical and experimental debates within these areas with a view to addressing the question: How are psychological theories developed and investigated ethically? Throughout the Unit established ideas in Psychology (e.g. classical conditioning) will be discussed from a historical perspective, students will then use skills in information literacy to locate and evaluate more recent experimental research which builds upon initial theories. Core text Comer, R., Gould, E., & Furnham, A., (2013). Psychology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. Link to Library Catalogue for this text: http://library.beds.ac.uk/record=b1606772~s20 1
Introduction to Psychological Research and Data Analysis The unit is designed to introduce you to the idea of the discipline of psychology as a science and discusses the theoretical and practical applications of how Psychologists design, conduct, analyse and write up an ethically sound research project. The unit is split in three integrated sections covering a variety of quantitative methodological research designs, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, and an introduction to how psychologists analyse qualitative data. The Unit aims to encourage you to consider what is meant by the scientific study of psychology and examine how the BPS ethical guidelines underpin researching psychological issues. It also aims to provide you with the skills needed to begin to critically evaluate published research and statistical claims in the media. s McQueen, R. A & Knussen, C (2006) Introduction to research methods and statistics in psychology. Harlow. Pearson, Prentice Hall Hinton, P, McMurray, I and Brownlow, C (2014) SPSS Explained, 2 nd Edition. London. Routledge. Psychology in Everyday Life This unit aims to enhance knowledge of psychological topics by framing them in the context of everyday life and everyday behaviours and further develop independent learning abilities and critical thinking. You will gain topic knowledge and an understanding of psychological theory using the observable and latent behaviour of yourselves, others and groups within society. This unit develops your knowledge of contemporary topics in psychology, professional and transferable skills, and your ability to reflect upon your learner development, framing this using key developmental psychology theories. Hogg, M.A., & Vaughan, G.M. (2011) Social Psychology (6 th Edition) Harlow: Pearson Introduction to Counselling This unit aims to introduce students to the concepts of counselling, psychotherapy, coaching and psychological therapies. The students will be introduced to major theoretical 2
approaches, the developmental theories that inform them and the relevant therapeutic interventions. An overview of the most commonly presented psychological difficulties, such as anxiety, depression will be introduced as well as a short overview of the relevant interventions. It also aims to offer an experiential approach to the application of counselling skills. Hough, M. (2010). Counselling Skills and Theory. 3rd edition. London: Hodder and Stoughton 3
All units are core Year 2 Social Processes and Lifespan Development Biological and Cognitive Psychology Methods of Research in Psychology Counselling and Psychotherapy in context Unit Details Social Processes and Lifespan Development The unit explores key topics in developmental and social psychology with a view to addressing the question: How do individuals change and develop across the lifespan? The aim is for you to develop an understanding of aspects of biological, cognitive and social development from the prenatal stage through to old age with an emphasis on culture, society, and social factors. This unit encourages critical reading and evaluation of current research articles, and provides an opportunity to conduct and participate in small-scale empirical exercises relevant to the unit topics. This unit aims to allow you to learn academic and transferable skills including writing critical reviews and provides the opportunity to reflect on personal development and career goals. Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2011). Life-Span Human Development. (7 th ed.) Belmont, CA, USA: Thomson Wadsworth Biological and Cognitive Psychology The unit examines human thinking, perception, language, memory and learning at two related levels of explanation. At the biological level the aim is to explain and investigate the physiology and neuroanatomy of behaviour. The unit will therefore enable you to integrate biological concepts into your knowledge of other areas of psychology such as individual differences and cognition. At the cognitive level, the unit takes an information processing approach to theories of memory, perception language and thinking and aims to relate these theories to everyday behaviour from face recognition and eye-witness testimony to the use of mobile phones in cars. 4
Staff research informs a number of the topics covered in this unit, for example, language processing, perception, attention and behaviour. The Unit aims to: Develop an understanding of information processing and computational models of human thinking Provide a grounding in neuroanatomy and the physiology of behaviour Develop biopsychological explanations of cognitive processes; Provide the opportunity to test theories by experiment Examine the impact of the structure and organisation of cognitive system on human behaviour Develop an appreciation and critical reflection on the various research methods, conceptual and historical issues relevant to cognitive and biological psychology Encourage critical reading and discussion of primary sources Toates, F. (2011), Biological Psychology. Edinburgh, Pearson Education Ltd. Methods of Research in Psychology This unit builds on the first level units on research methods and extends into an exploration of the assessment of personality and individual differences. The central question is how to select the most appropriate research method to answer particular questions, develop and validate methods of psychological assessment, and consider ethical issues relating to the design of research through to the dissemination of findings. Moreover, you will have the opportunity to advance your knowledge and skills in software packages such as the SPSS for statistics, software for qualitative analysis, and programs for designing and conducting laboratory experiments, as well as for database search. Students will expand their knowledge on research design and methods of collecting and analysing data working individually as well as in groups on research topics of their choice in preparation for the final year Honours Project. Staff research will inform the content of the unit and engage the students in current research activities related to the topics covered in the unit. s Bryman, A. (2011) Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS London: Routledge Banister, P., Burman, E., Parker I., Taylor, M. and Tindall, C. (2003) Qualitative Methods in Psychology: A Research Guide. 2 nd Edition. Milton Keynes: Open University Press 5
Counselling and Psychotherapies in Context This unit builds on the learning outcomes from the Introduction to Counselling and psychotherapy unit at level 4 and provides a breadth of contemporary knowledge about how counselling and psychotherapy are applied in different contexts. It aims to offer students specific applications of counselling and psychotherapy to deal with different contexts and settings. Students will also continue to develop basic counselling skills through tutorial activities. They will also learn to critically evaluate theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapies in the field. The unit also enables students to consider the role of factors such as culture, gender and age when delivering counselling and psychotherapies. As a research-informed teaching program, will be provided a range of research-based evidence in order to examine empirical foundations of interventions in the field of counselling and psychotherapy. Core text Clark, D. M. & Faiburn, C. G. (2003). Science and Practice of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Oxford: Oxford University Press 6
Year Three All Units are Core Psychology Honours Project Culture and Individual differences Psychological Coaching and Therapies Atypical Child and Adolescent Development: Theories and Applications Psychology of Mental Health Unit Details Psychology, Counselling and Therapies Honours Project The Research Project is designed to enhance your pre-existing research methods skills and further develop independent learning abilities and critical thinking. You are required to blend the dichotomous elements of supervised academic research along with independent critical evaluation of your own learning and professional practices. This unit allows you to enhance your knowledge of a research topic in counselling or coaching psychology, your professional and transferable skills, and your ability to reflect upon your learner development, framing this using key developmental psychology theories. The American Psychological Society s Guide to Undergraduate Student Research and Writing: https://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/student-research.aspx Culture and Individual differences This unit will consider cultural and individual differences within the area of cross-cultural psychology. Cross-cultural psychology is the comparative study of cultural effects on human psychology. It examines psychological diversity and the links between cultural norms and behaviour. Hence it is a complement to individual differences as well as all the main topics within psychology. Cross-cultural psychology uses comparative methods to establish psychological concepts, principles and hypotheses from the perspective of generalizability, on a range of phenomena from cognition to emotion; intelligence to personality. 7
The purpose of the unit is to introduce the field of cross-cultural psychology and its contemporary applications. Within the context of globalization of knowledge and societies, this unit will enable us to investigate psychology s contribution to the various changes that are taking place in various applied fields such as education, health, mental health and work practices. Shiraev, E & Levy, D. (2013). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications. International and 4th eds. New York. Allyn & Bacon. Atypical Child and Adolescent Development: Theories and Applications The unit addresses the question of what makes a child atypical or exceptional. It therefore looks at the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment or outcomes of atypical development. You will also examine how different issues involved with exceptional children and atypical development affect and are influenced by families, education, and society. The unit aims to: introduce an aetiological developmental framework for understanding exceptional children. examine cognitive and psychosocial aspects of selected difficulties in learning, perception, attention and emotional and social development. introduce key issues in psychological assessment and intervention. develop a critical awareness of the theoretical underpinnings of contemporary research in the field of atypical development. discuss and evaluate the ways in which practice informs theory in our understanding of human development. provide information about research and assessment in developmental psychology and demonstrate how developmental research can be ethically applied in different settings. provide illustrations of the application of developmental theory and research to issues in the real world. This unit has applications for those with interests in the field of education and welfare (teaching, child and adolescent mental health, educational psychology and social work). Stein, S.M. & Chowdhury, U. (2006). Disorganized Children: A guide for parents and professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 8
Psychology of Mental Health This unit will allow you to familiarise yourself with the main issues relating mental health problems and therefore help you develop a good grounding towards further study and training or employment in role relating to mental health. The unit aims to: introduce you to the main theoretical and therapeutic approaches to mental health problems present and evaluate major aspects in the classification of mental health problems familiarise you with the clinical symptoms of the most common psychological disorders encourage you to critically discuss aetiological models and therapeutic interventions of the major mental health problems in the light of traditional but also recent concepts and empirical findings discuss the importance of socio-cultural factors in the causation, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health problems. Comer, R. J. (2004). Abnormal Psychology, 5th ed. New York: Worth. Psychological Coaching and Therapies This unit aims to enable you to understand what is meant by the concepts of coaching and Evidence based psychological Therapies. It also aims to introduce you to the currently leading models of coaching psychology and understand the basic psychological principles which inform them. It seeks to address the question of what orthodox therapeutic approaches can influence the delivery of effective short term psychological interventions. It also aims to offer you the opportunity of enhanced personal insight and reflection with the skills to apply this to selfmanagement. It also aims to enable you to recognise, discriminate and apply core coaching and interpersonal skills which they have been progressively learning in level 4 and 5 in a peer coaching role supported by experts in the field. The unit not only provides a route to further study in the field of work psychology, but provides important employability and career development skills. Palmer, S., & Whybrow, A. (2007). Handbook of Coaching Psychology: A Guide for Practitioners. London: Routledge 9
Course Structure for Part-time Students PART TIME YEAR 1 PSY001-1 4 30 Foundations to Psychology Core PSY002-1 4 30 Introduction to Psychological Research Core Methods and Data Analysis YEAR 2 NEW 4 30 Introduction to Counselling Core PSY004-1 4 30 Psychology in Every Day Life Core YEAR 3 PSY001-2 5 30 Social Processes and Lifespan Development Core PSY002-2 5 30 Biological and Cognitive Psychology Core YEAR 4 NEW 5 30 Methods of Research in Psychology Core NEW 5 30 Counselling and Psychotherapy in context Core YEAR 5 NEW 6 15 Culture and Individual Differences Core PSY013-3 6 30 Psychological Coaching and Therapies Core PSY006-3 6 15 Psychology of Mental Health Core YEAR 6 NEW 6 45 Counselling Psychology Honours Project Core PSY001-3 6 15 Atypical Child and Adolescent Development: Theories and Applications Core 10